Alleged Hells Angel pleads guilty to drug, gun charges

David James Bishop, shown in 2013, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Dartmouth provincial court to drug and gun charges from a raid on his Cole Harbour home last summer.

An alleged member of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang pleaded guilty Tuesday to drug and gun charges stemming from a police raid on his Cole Harbour home last summer.

David James Bishop, 35, was one of three people arrested Aug. 3, when police executed a search warrant at his house on Pernix Court and allegedly seized a large quantity of drugs, drug and outlaw motorcycle gang paraphernalia, two guns and ammunition.

One of the weapons, a .38-calibre handgun, was loaded.

Bishop and his live-in girlfriend, Jacquelyne Anna Brophy, 34, were supposed to go on trial Tuesday in Dartmouth court on a slew of charges.

But after last-minute negotiations, lawyers for both accused reached plea bargains with the Crown attorneys.

Both defendants pleaded guilty to careless storage of the .38-calibre handgun, possession of a loaded prohibited weapon, possession of a 12-gauge shotgun for a dangerous purpose, and possession of pills containing two recreational synthetic drugs.

Bishop also pleaded guilty to possessing benzocaine for the purpose of producing a controlled substance and breaching firearms prohibitions imposed on him in 2009, 2012 and 2013.

In addition, Brophy admitted possessing digital scales for the purpose of trafficking a controlled substance.

Judge Rickcola Brinton will sentence the pair Friday.

Defence lawyers Patrick MacEwen, who is representing Bishop, and Julian Dickinson told the court they have agreed on joint sentencing recommendations with the Crown.

Bishop was denied bail last September. He tried to get a bail review in Nova Scotia Supreme Court last month, but Justice Felix Cacchione ruled there had not been enough of a change in Bishop’s circumstances to warrant a review of the provincial court judge’s decision.

Brophy is not in custody. She was released by police after she was charged last August.

Sara Michelle Walker, 29, of Cole Harbour was also arrested in the raid, but the charges against her were dropped by the Crown late last year.